State law requires the District to send service charge letters to the owners of all rural properties in the District once per year, and to the owners of all city properties on which the District has verified reasonable grounds to believe our signals are in use.

The letter must be returned by all property owners, submitting payment for the voter-approved service charge ($100 per year) or requesting an exemption. If the letter is not returned, then state law requires the District to place the charge on the following year’s property taxes for certain properties. For example, if the 2020-2021 service charge letter, sent in summer 2020, is not returned by February 2021, the property owner will receive a reminder letter. If neither letter is returned, the charge will be placed on the owner’s fall 2022 property tax statement.

These letters are sent out every summer by law, and our board policies require a reminder letter be sent to every property owner who has not responded to the service charge letter by winter of the following year.

The federal government requires all full power television stations to transmit their signals for free. BMTD does not operate full power television stations, we operate low-power television translators that transmit channels normally broadcast by urban full power stations in Baker and Union Counties. As a local government special district, both the US Congress and the Oregon Legislative Assembly empower the District to charge for the use of these over-the-air signals.